President Obama Finally has a Facebook Page

"Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States." Image Courtesy of Facebook

If you thought President Barack Obama already had his own Facebook page you’re probably not alone.

But it turns out that nearly three-quarters of the way through his second term in office, the Commander-in-Chief still didn’t have his own profile on the social network. That changed Monday when the President announced on Facebook (FB) that he—at long last—has his own page.

Obama’s inaugural post was a video that featured the President walking around a section of the White House grounds known as President’s Park in a two-minute tour aimed at raising awareness of climate change and pushing for environmental conservation. “I want to make sure the beauty of this particular national park, but also national parks across the country and our planet are going to be there for Malia, Sasha, their kids, their grandkids for generations to come,” President Obama said in the video.

Hello, Facebook! I finally got my very own page. I hope you’ll think of this as a place where we can have real conversations about the most important issues facing our country – a place where you can hear directly from me, and share your own thoughts and stories. (You can expect some just-for-fun stuff, too.)I’m kicking it off by inviting you to take a walk with me in my backyard – something I try to do at the end of the day before I head in for dinner. I say this often, but that’s because it’s always at the front of my mind: We’ve got to preserve this beautiful planet of ours for our kids and grandkids. And that means taking serious steps to address climate change once and for all. Now, we've made a lot of progress to cut carbon pollution here at home, and we're leading the world to take action as well. But we’ve got to do more. In a few weeks, I’m heading to Paris to meet with world leaders about a global agreement to meet this challenge.I hope you'll join me in speaking out on climate change and educating your friends about why this issue is so important. At a time when nearly three in four adults online use Facebook, this feels like a great place to do it. Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this message on to folks you think need to see it.If we're all in this together, I'm confident we can solve this and do right by future generations.

The President’s profile identifies him as “Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States,” and his timeline includes life events like the oath of office that launched his second term and the swearing-in at the start of his first. It also mentions his tenure as an Illinois state Senator and the four years he spent representing Illinois in the U.S. Senate. There’s also a post marking his wedding to First Lady Michelle Obama in October 1992.

President Obama’s inaugural appearance on Facebook comes about six months after he joined Twitter.

An hour after his first Facebook post, Obama’s page had nearly 60,000 likes. Among the first to congratulate the president on his profile was Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg. “Welcome to Facebook, President Obama!” she wrote in a comment on Obama’s post. “Excited for you to have your very own Page—and looking forward to the conversation (and the just-for-fun stuff).”